When a technician fills a paper towel dispenser there is a tendency to overfill the dispenser with as much paper product as possible, in order to reduce the number of times the dispenser needs to be serviced. However, if too much product is added, the stack of paper towels will have a buildup of pressure. This increased pressure makes dispensing difficult and increases the likelihood of tabbing or ripping the paper towels.
Numerous sheet product dispensers have been designed with overfill prevention mechanisms. U.S. Pat. No. 5,884,805 to Tramontina, for example, describes an overfill feature that will prevent the dispenser's cover from being closed if too much product is loaded into the dispenser. Tramontina specifically describes an overfill bracket that will be displaced from its normal position, thus preventing the front cover from engaging with the housing back. Since the front cover cannot close when the dispenser is overfilled with sheet product, the dispenser technician will need to remove enough product to allow the overfill bracket to move back to its normal position and allow the cover to engage with the closure mechanism.
This and all other extrinsic materials discussed herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. Where a definition or use of a term in an incorporated reference is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
Another overfill prevention mechanism is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,520,372 to Phelps. Phelps describes a moveable housing bottom that lifts up as the dispenser cover is opened, thus reducing the internal storage space that can accept folded product. When the cover is closed, the bottom drops down increasing the internal storage space which in return prevents the overfilling of the folded product. U.S. Pat. No. 374,065 to Taylor also describes an overfill prevention feature that limites available storage capacity when the front cover is open, and increases storage capacity when the front cover is closed.
In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,920,999 to Taylor describes an overfill mechanism that requires the technician to use two hands. This prevents the technician from pushing down and compressing (e.g., stuffing) the stack of folded product into the dispenser in order to add extra sheet product, thus preventing overfilling.
Unfortunately, the prior art requires complex linkages and/or moving parts. It has yet to be appreciated that an overfill prevention feature can comprise a simple single non-moving part.
Thus, there is still a need for improved overfill prevention features for sheet product dispensers.